Crypto Debit Card or Aspiring Neobank? With Secured Line of Credit, Ledger and Baanx’s Crypto Life Card Aims Higher

Crypto companies issuing Mastercard and Visa-branded debit cards that let users spend their bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies at retailers is no longer new.

But leading hardware wallet maker Ledger on Thursday (Dec. 9) announced one with something extra — a line of credit. Sort of.

When launched next year, Ledger Crypto Life Card cardholders will be able to borrow against the cryptocurrency stored on their Ledger Nano hardware wallets. They will have 30 days to pay their balance without interest.

Read also: Coinbase Card Drives Crypto Spending Via Google Pay, Apple Pay

The CL Card has a number of features common to crypto debit cards, starting with the ability to spend the crypto at retailers — although on the back end, the cryptocurrency is instantly sold by the card issuer and the merchant is paid in fiat. Users will also be able to direct deposit paychecks, converting a set percentage to cryptocurrency and leaving the rest in currency.

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The debit card will be accessed through Ledger Live, the company’s crypto management app which connects company’s the hardware wallets to the web, as well as allowing users to buy, sell, and stake crypto.

Unbanking Consumers

“Slowly but surely we are moving away from the traditional financial providers such as banks, slowly we are starting to Unbank the Banked,” said Ledger U.K. Managing Director and Global Vice President of Transactions and Payments Iqbal Gandham.

He added, “There is one major transaction which has been left behind, and that is the most important of all. Important if we are to expand our offerings and universe to a wider audience. It is one we do every day — spending money.”

The Visa-branded CL Card will act something like a traditional secured credit card, which allows customers with poor credit scores access to a credit card by depositing cash with the issuing bank.

The rollout of the CL Card will begin in early 2022 in the U.K., France and Germany. The U.S. will come after that. The company added that the card’s two biggest features, the line of credit and direct deposit, will be available later in the year.

The CL Card is issued by Baanx Group Ltd., a London-based FinTech that is not, its website notes, a bank. A waiting list is available.

Ledger raised $380 million in a series C funding round in June, valuing it at $1.5 billion, the company said.

The company made several other announcements Thursday, notably that Ledger Live users will be able to trade directly from the app via a partnership with the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.

In addition, its top-selling Ledger Nano and Ledger S wallets can now support non-fungible tokens (NFTs), as well as traditional cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.

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